Mulder continued to cradle Scully's motionless body in his arms. He grabbed a sheet and ripped some of it off, applying pressure to her stomach wound. He sadly knew all too well about stomach wounds and unless they were treated quickly, they were always fatal. "Come on Scully, hold on for me." He whispered. "Where the hell are those damn medics?!" He shouted toward the door.

Within a few seconds two medics came into the room with a stretcher. "What happened?"

"She's…she's been stabbed in the stomach." Mulder whispered. "And has several cuts across her neck."

The medic reached down to Scully's neck. "No pulse! Get ready to charge!"

The other medic ran into the other room and quickly returned with a defibulator. "Charged."

The medic near Scully picked up the paddles. "Clear!" He then placed them on Scully's chest, shocking her.

The other medic looked at the screen and shook his head. "Nothing."

"Ok, going again." The medic near Scully picked up the paddles again. "Charge." He then paused. "Clear!"

Mulder could only watch from the corner as Scully's chest rose and then fell. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. This was the kind of thing that only happened in movies not in real life. And he honestly didn't know how he would be able to get on without his partner.

"We've got a pulse!" The medic shouted. "Faint but it's there."

"All right, let's get her up on the stretcher!" The two medics got on each side of Scully. "Ready, 1…2…3!" They placed her wrapped body on the stretcher and went about starting an IV and oxygen.

It was then that Skinner walked back into the room. "Agent Mulder, I need to speak with you."

Mulder completely ignored Skinner as he watched Scully being wheeled out of the room. He ran after the medics. "I…I need to ride with her."

"Sir, I'm afraid you can't do that."

"Look, she's my partner, dammit!"

"Regardless you will have to just see her at the hospital." A medic answered back sternly.

Mulder watched as Scully was wheeled out the door. "Scully!" He was about to run when he felt himself put into a neck restraint.

"Don't even think about it, Agent Mulder!" Skinner replied angrily. "There's nothing more you can do for her now. I said I wanted to speak to you and I mean NOW!"

Mulder struggled for a few seconds before realizing he was losing this battle. "All right, all right."

Skinner let go of his restraint on Mulder and walked back to the bedroom. He watched as two other medics picked up Jeremy's body and placed it on a stretcher. "Now, I want to know what the hell happened, Agent Mulder."

Mulder watched as Jeremy's body was hooked up to an IV. "He's still alive?"

A medic looked at Mulder. "Just barely."

"That son-of-a-bitch should be dead!" Mulder screamed toward the stretcher.

"Agent Mulder, that's enough!" Skinner replied back.

"He deserves to die!" Mulder yelled as Jeremy was wheeled out of the bedroom. "He doesn't deserve to live!"

"I said, that's ENOUGH!" Skinner answered angrily. "Knock it off or I will have you put in restraints do you understand me?!"

"You can't do that!"

"I can and I will. Your behavior is completely irrational! And considering the circumstances you are under right now I don't think it would help your case!"

"What do you mean?"

"You went into this area completely unauthorized. You did not call for back up and instead committed breaking and entering, running in like some kind of damn cowboy! Not only that but you put your life as well as Agent Scully's in danger! And on top of that you shot the suspect when he was unarmed in cold blood! Now, you tell me why restraining you would not help your case?"

Mulder ran his hands through his hair. "You have absolutely no clue as to what happened in here, Sir! You weren't here! You didn't see…" He shook his head. "Look, I will tell you what I need to know but I want to see Scully first. You at least owe me that much. And after that, I will tell you everything you need to know and you can deal with me however you need. But I need to see her."

Skinner sighed. "All right. I'll take you to the hospital. But after you see her, I want some damn answers."

Mulder had to restrain himself from running into the hospital. All he could see in his mind was Scully lying in his arms with blood pouring from her. Her face had been so pale and cold to his touch. And now to make things worse her perpetrator was still alive! Mulder was cursing himself for not having a more fatal shot now. Murder or not that man did not deserve to live. He didn't care about what Skinner thought.

"Wait here. I'll find out where she is." Skinner replied before heading to the front desk.

Mulder stood in the waiting room, glancing toward the double doors. It pained him to no end to know that his partner was somewhere behind those doors fighting for her life. And worse yet that he couldn't be by her side. He watched as Skinner made his way back to him.

"They have her stabilized but barely. She's lost a lot of blood."

"Where is she?" Mulder whispered.

"They're preparing her for surgery, you can't see her."

Mulder turned to Skinner. "Like hell, I can't." Without another word, he went through the double doors.

"Sir, you can't go in there!" A nurse yelled but her words fell on deaf ears.

Mulder ran down the hallway, peeking into all the windows. His eyes desperately searched for a glimpse of his partner. He could feel his heart racing as he looked in window after window. He then stopped in front of a particular one and his heart sank. There lying on a bed with tubes and various things hooked up all around her lay Scully. "Scully." He whispered. The sight of her lying there caused him to shiver and go numb. He slowly sank to his knees with his fingers running down the pane of glass. "Oh god, Scully." He put his face in his hands emitting a soft cry. He was then grabbed roughly by the shoulder and yanked off the floor.

"You need to stop this, Agent Mulder. I already told you there is nothing more you can do for her. Don't make this any harder on yourself." Skinner replied turning him around. "Now, I kept my promise to you, it's time you kept mine. If you want to help her, you will tell me what the hell happened in there."

Mulder nodded. "All right."

Skinner led them to a door, which contained a small room. He motioned to a chair. "Take a seat."

Mulder slowly sat in the chair and clasped his hands together.

Skinner looked toward him. "Now, I want you to tell me what happened in there."

Mulder stared straight ahead as he spoke. "What happened? I…was a witness to a crime that is unspeakable. That tops any kind of profiling case I have ever done." He took a swallow." I looked into the face of pure evil. I stared into its horrible face and for one of the few times in my life, I felt fear."

"Fear?"

"Yes, I felt fear but not for myself. I felt fear knowing that this thing was going to take Scully away from me and there was nothing I could do." He paused. "For the first time in my life, I was completely helpless and at the mercy of someone else's will."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I found an earring that I gave Scully as a Christmas gift this year in the alley. And I knew based on that and her missing earpiece that more than likely she had been nabbed by our suspect. I contacted a few agents nearby and we split up hoping to cover more ground."

"So another words you went off on your own with no indication as to where you were heading?"

"Yes, Sir I did. But it was only because I was concerned for what might be happening to Scully. At this point, the suspect had a lot of time ahead of us."

"So, you found his lair?"

"Oh, I found it all right. I found a bottle of chloroform in front of the door and my instinct said that was where she was." He paused taking a breath. "So, I kicked the door in and made my way inside to the back room. I opened the door…and I saw…I saw Scully with a bruised and bloody face with a knife to her neck. And I saw that bastard grinning and laughing at me."

"And you didn't try and shoot him then?"

"How could I? He had the knife so close to Scully's throat, he would have slit her by the time I did. And that was the last thing I would have wanted to happen." He paused. "So, I gave up my gun to him and he tied me to a chair. He…taunted me saying how Scully had talked about me in a sexual way but I didn't believe him. And he asked me for a profile once he found out I had been a profiler, so I gave it to him. And it appears I hit on every single thing about him except for one thing that he wouldn't tell me. He said that Jack the Ripper was his idol."

"Based on the murders that would make sense." Skinner paused. "What happened after that?"

"After that?" Mulder fidgeted with his hands. "He told me…he was going to rape Scully right in front of me."

Skinner took a seat next to Mulder. "Oh god."

"He had her handcuffed to the bed and she was gagged. And…all she could do was look back at me with tears in her eyes and there wasn't a damn thing I could do." Mulder closed his eyes tightly. "He…started fondling her, kissing her right in front of me and he gloated in it. The son-of-a-bitch enjoyed seeing my pain. And then….he uncuffed Scully and took off her gag and threatened to kill her if she didn't orally please him."

Skinner folded his hands and sighed.

"So, she started to and that's when the other agents showed up. Scully…bit him while he was distracted and he…stabbed her in the stomach before sending her to the floor. And all that time I was loosening my ropes and just as they came in I got free. I pulled out my gun from my ankle holster and I pointed it at him. I just wanted to shoot his ass right then and there but I stopped myself. And yes I did send the other agents away and that was probably wrong. But after what I had just witnessed I couldn't let them just take away that sick bastard. He taunted me about how if I killed him I would be a murderer and that if I didn't he would live while Scully would die. And I just couldn't take it anymore so I shot him. I shot him without any remorse whatsoever."

Skinner rose from his chair and walked over to a corner. "Jesus."

"Sir, I know you think what I did was wrong in shooting him. That doing that was against everything we stand for. But what that man did to Scully and to all those other innocent victims of his…" He paused. "The only justice that would be good for that bastard is death. But even then I wouldn't want it to be a quick one either. I would want to see that son-of-a-bitch suffer. Death would be too kind for him."

Skinner adjusted his glasses. "Agent Mulder, you do realize the position you have put me in here, don't you?"

"Position, Sir?"

"I walked in and witnessed you killing Jeremy in cold blood. You also went against my authority in choosing to go after Agent Scully. And when you were at the crime scene you refused to wait for back up. In reality I should go before OPR with this and bring you up on charges."

Mulder lowered his head and nodded.

Skinner looked at him intently before speaking again. "But I'm not going to do that."

Mulder raised his head. "You're….you're not?"

"Based on what you just told me, no. I honestly cannot blame you for your actions, Agent Mulder. No one should have to go through what you did. You were justified in shooting him. And you were a lot kinder than I would have been."

"Thank you, Sir."

"But there is one small problem. There were other witnesses besides myself. And I can assure you they will not lie to OPR when called upon. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do on that issue."

Mulder sighed. "I understand, Sir."

"But…there is something else I can do for you."

"Something else?"

Skinner nodded. "I know where they are keeping Jeremy."

Mulder looked at him. "Where? Is he here in this hospital?"

"They told me over my cell where they were taking him. And I also got that information at the nurse's station."

"I need to know, Sir."

"I know you do." Skinner pulled out a piece of paper and wrote on it with a pen. He then handed it to Mulder. "As far as you know this information never reached you. He's on life support as we speak."

"Not for long." Mulder answered taking the piece of paper. "Are there any guards or anything by his door?"

"I'll take care of it. Just make certain that you are quick and leave no trace of fingerprints."

"I will and thank you, Sir."

"We never discussed this, understand?"

"Discussed what?" Mulder asked with a half smile.

"Get going before they have a chance to save him."

Mulder nodded and headed out the door with the piece of paper in his hand. "You're about to get some company, Jeremy. And this time no one will save your sorry ass!"

Mulder made his way to the floor that Jeremy was being kept on. He watched as the two agents near his room answered their cells and then walked away. It was obvious that Skinner had kept his promise. He stood around the corner and waited as the two agents walked by. Ducking into a closet he found a doctor's gown and mask. After donning his outfit he slowly approached Jeremy's room. Opening the door he stepped in and observed Jeremy's chest moving up and down due to the machine on the right. A smile crossed his face as he walked over to the bed. He then looked at Jeremy whose eyes were half closed. He pulled down his mask. "Hello, Jeremy. Long time no see."